According to Energy Secretary Chris Wright, the US has no plans to attack Iran’s oil industry. “The US is not targeting energy infrastructure,” Wright told CNN. According to Axios, the United States is concerned that Israeli attacks on infrastructure that serves the Iranian population could backfire strategically. There are concerns that they could help support the leadership in Tehran and further drive up oil prices. It rose above the $100 mark for the first time in years.
The price of Brent, the most important North Sea variety in Europe, temporarily rose by a good 20 percent in early trading to more than 110 US dollars per barrel (159 liters). On Friday afternoon, Brent crude oil for delivery in May was still trading at over $90. Since the start of the war, the price increase has now amounted to around 50 percent: at the end of February, around $70 per barrel was still common. Fuel prices have also risen significantly since then.
Fears of a prolonged closure of the Strait of Hormuz remain a dominant theme in the oil market. Since the American-Israeli attacks on Iran and Tehran’s counterattacks, hardly any ships pass through the strait between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman. During peacetime, around a fifth of the world’s oil trade is transported through these every day. It is also very important for the transport of liquid gas, for example from Qatar.
Stock markets in Japan and South Korea plunged amid a sharp rise in oil prices in the morning. East Asian economies are particularly reliant on importing oil.
But rising fuel prices in his own country could also become a problem for US President Trump in view of the important midterm elections for Congress in the fall. There is hardly an issue on which many Americans are as sensitive as the price of gasoline.
Trump explained the sharp rise in oil prices as a short-term phenomenon that was “a very small price to pay for security and peace.” On his Truth Social platform, he further wrote in capital letters: “ONLY IDIOTS WOULD SEE IT DIFFERENTLY!”
